Hundreds of kidney patients in Gaza struggle against death amid lack of medicine

More than 1,200 Palestinian patients with kidney diseases in the besieged coastal enclave have been struggling against death amid a lack of medical treatment and equipment, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

Speaking to The New Arab, Alaa Helles, a Gaza-based director pharmacy department, noted that "kidney patients are at risk of being unable to access to dialysis sessions."

"They will be exposed to severe health complications due to the lack of medical equipment, medicines, and supplies," Helles added, accusing the Israeli occupation of preventing the shipment of X-rays and mobile imaging devices to the Gaza Strip.

Because of the Israeli ban, a large number of patients were left without diagnostic examinations for more than 18 months and are under threat of severe deterioration in their health.

The UN on Tuesday warned of a humanitarian disaster in Gaza as aid that supports hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the besieged territory will come to a halt in the coming days. https://t.co/76SgubRg8B

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Israel imposed an illegal blockade on the coastal enclave following the Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement -which won the legislative elections in 2006 - taking control of the territory after rounds of fighting the security forces loyal to the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in 2007.

Since then, the Israeli authorities prevent the shipment of a lot of goods, industrial materials as well as medicine and medical equipment under the pretext of their potential dual usual by the Palestinian resistance.

As a result, Samia al-Jammaly, a Gaza-based patient with kidney disease is forced to wait long hours for her turn at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza to begin her usual procedure to change her blood, a process that lasts at least four hours.

"Normally, I should come here three times a week to receive my treatment to get rid of toxins and fluids accumulated in my body due to the failure of my kidneys, but because of lack of medicine I just come one or two times only," the 45-year-old mother of three remarked to TNA.

"I do not know why the Israeli occupation insists on punishing all of us in Gaza, without differentiating between healthy and ill people," she added. 

Usually, a kidney patient is connected to the dialysis device through a small plastic tube clipped to his hand or another part of the body, while the wheel of the device spins to start the treatment phase. This may take up to four hours.

Sameh al-Ayoubi, another Gaza-based kidney patient also suffers from the consequences of not receiving his treatment on time. The 69-year-old elderly man complained to TNA that he "could not have any alternative treatment that would eliminate his ongoing pains."

"We are humans and we should enjoy our rights as well as all people, mainly patients, around the world," he stressed. "Israel is just a criminal state that does not care about any of our rights just because we are Palestinians."

Both Al-Jammaly and Al-Ayoubi called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its ban on the treatment and medical equipment and allow the patients to freely move between Gaza and the occupied West Bank to receive their treatment.

Doctors and specialists said the increased number of people with kidney failure results from high blood pressure, diabetes, urinary tract infections and the formation of stones.

According to the World Health Organisation, 10 per cent of people in the world suffer from chronic kidney disease, and it ranked 18th on the list of diseases that cause death. While in Palestine, it is the ninth cause.